I got to agree with that. As much as I like not being purged, this change only encourages people to horde rares and have multiple characters that serve no other purpose than to have a sweet set of armor and never use it than to actually play the game and participate in pk

New druid roll out. I know certain people can't ever admit to being wrong

Did you really have to start your post with a finger-jabbing insult? I'm already not feeling inclined to respond in any sort of constructive way. I can't believe you actually opened with this remark. Terrible.

ottif wrote:

Can you just test it privately and open the class to everyone like every other game ever? This roll out makes no sense and kinda makes me lose interest in returning to play the class.

Well we launched monks and a lot of people were hyped and played, and monks are still going quite strong, but the fact is there was a lot of people complaining the class was too hard to play and that their time was wasted. Then we reworked shadows (fairly major not a "tweak") and people complained they were playing a "beta" of AR. Then we did berserkers and people complained "was this even tested?" Of course its already been tested privately. We can't get enough data that way alone. Every other game ever, is either not giving a shit or they have the resources to hire a large team of playtesters. We don't fall into either of those categories, so there you go, we went with the tried-and-tested vampire method of select a person who will perform in the role decently even if the whole class really sucks. That definitely is NOT 'something for everyone'. Naturally there are always complainers no matter what choice we go with. I feel most comfortable going this way because I don't get overwhelmed with more bugs than I can handle and I've chosen the player who posts the most bugs, actually.

As for your comment about "makes me lose interest in returning to play", you'll get your chance to play one, don't worry about that. It isn't 100% perfect if you hadn't gathered that from everything else I've said so far, and I have no desire to inflict a punishment on you, but if you really want to be involved in this phase of the class, you can apply for a druid the same way apply for a vamp. I will of course first warn you that our playtester had to literally START OVER because we found out treants were completely unplayable.

ottif wrote:

Or at least pick someone who plays regularly and can write a decent background, sheesh.

It is so, so easy to be an armchair spectator. We hear the same shit from people who aren't Justices and need to tell us how to behave as a Justice even though they'd never do it themselves (or want to even try). Fact is, he is trying to understand how to play a brand new class with no assistance. That player has a lot of focus on him because he is a druid, and of course, posts like these are going to be stuff he sees and feels pressure from. Pressure which is completely unnecessary. So maybe you could cut him just a little slack? We all have personal lives to get on with, and the most successful of us, we tend to be a little busier in those lives than the people who you see play AR all day, no offense meant, but if I'm handpicking somebody I'm not basing that pick on how many hours a day they can stay logged in before they delete their piece of shit in a month period. The only thing I can see this sentence adds to your post, is jealousy.

ottif wrote:

1/3rd into the month and only 15 characters have even logged an hour a day (druid not being one of them......) so far so I really don't think people are dying to interact with this druid guy. the druid is a mystic on page 2 of the pvp rankings too, what exactly are they testing... lol

I've pushed him to go with Mystic because the Mystics having access to the helpfiles enables him to ask questions and edit the druid helpfiles on-the-go, which saves everybody a lot of time and ensures you guys hit the ground running with great helpfiles in the long run. Also this guy isn't really a renown pk'er or anything like that.. he's a roleplayer first and foremost, and that's how we're choosing to introduce the class to the game.. with roleplay. I'm sure there will still be plenty of balance issues left to exploit... isnt that the fun part of having a new class? Really its about just introducing it well and making sure we aren't crashing the game all over the place._________________AR is on TwitterFacebook

Actually I was thinking why not allow another tester who's a renown Pker? That way we test both sides of the class. A lot of flame on new classes usually comes from OP skills that shit on people when they roll out and they get looted from it.

Sorry I couldn't appropriately respond with my last message but it was so hilarious... To think we have people complaining about the way a 'new class is released' is just funny. It's limited to ONE character, one of which is known to report even the minimal amount of bugs. From an outside perspective, this is actually a great way to test a new class.

"OMG HE/SHE MADE A MYSTIC"
As Dav already pointed out, perhaps it has a solid outside reasoning as to why, i.e. fix helpfiles and whatnot as it can as it levels.

"TEST IT OUT ON A PK'ER"
So you want someone who can run around and PK someone, at any time, with "Possible OP" skills? I don't even want to think about the crying endlessly about people died 'unfairly cuz OP'. Good lord the hilarity I would read about every single skill would be so amazing.

"TEST IT PRIVATELY FIST"
We actually did test it privately, checking for bugs and whatnot. However, there is only so much a person can do on a test port. Please tell us all, how amazingly you tested something out. Did you find an error? I can tell you hundreds, of which, I've personally run across on different companies ALPHA'S/BETA'S and whatnot.

"PICK SOMEONE WHO PLAYS ALOT"
We all have personal lives, Mortals and Immortals alike. Crazy to think this shit gets in the way every once and a while. I'd rather have someone, with minimal hours, who calls out EVERY bug they can see, reliably, over someone who puts in a shit ton of hours and doesn't log a damn thing. I have no idea who Dav picked, but that's exactly what I would look for. I have a feeling he went with something along the lines of someone who reports shit. I naturally know, the people who are most prone to complain about everything, are the ones I wouldn't want to test a damn thing, personally. Stuff may not be perfect on release, but we are 100% trying our best to work out all the kinks.

Sorry you all weren't picked. I wasn't either. I should complain more maybe and I might get my way.

I do understand the complaint, I would probably feel a little put out or overlooked myself. Everybody who plays AR is quality. I know there's going to naturally be a little jealousy. Just remember that's why I worked on this for a long time on my own. I'm not the person who removed it from the game. I'm the person who is bringing it back, as well, so watch where you point that anger. I've travelled to multiple countries and read books in my quest to do so and make sure its thematically correct - and fun. So now we're just ironing out some of the huge obvious game-breaking bugs so at the end of the day it isnt just spamming moonbeams and casting 500 hp heals without using the staff at all. :/ "Balance" will come from review beyond that effort, just like how we do it with every other class. There's no reason why not to.

I am in the middle about this. At first I was all for it, but now having interacted with this person, not only do they seem not to interested but they also seem completely clueless. I guess that is the RP?

So we have to wait for a Player to "figure out" how to play a new class without help files before the general population can even try? Also being a Mystic you really think they are going to try to PVP hard and dunk everyone? Is that not what this game is about?_________________You plunge a guild-issue claw deep into Lexian's heart with a swift, sudden movement!
You +++ ASSASSINATE +++ Lexian!
Lexian is DEAD!!
Lexian splatters blood on your armor.

Just be patient and watch the narcissism, theyve been gone 9 years and there's really not much long of a wait at this point, or you owuldnt even see a druid in the who list would you_________________AR is on TwitterFacebook

Aryel has helped us catch several bugs so far. We're getting close and this class looks soooooooo fun to play. In other news, the grand mistress seems to have blown up the entire High Tower of Sorcery with an errant spell. What could it all mean?_________________No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful.

lemme be as civil as i can be without getting this deleted b/c i think some o ya fucks need to read this

eatmedrinkme cakes suck b/c a char is boosted when a char is boosted they neglect other chars an more importantly their char development and further n more importantly pc encounters

the rewarding feeling massively dwindled b/c mate A creates and immediately asks mate B to rank him this use to happen to me all the time

ya mates need humbling shits way to easy to boost to 50 now and i had somethin up there a while back and its like a buncha deadheads b/c they never developed their char or they all obviously knew each other irl

this n 6 hours deadline is what turns me off b/c u wizzies know just as well as i those who do not wish to be confiscated shall never be confiscated catch them in-game when during 1 of thea 6 30 min intervals somewhere during 28-32 days? was it made for a few select ppl or somethin?

Arunore I like you but I cannot really understand your message. Is the sentiment that levelling should now be more difficult to promote character development? Was it even doing that before? I thought we were all bored of levelling and wanting to skip past it to max level to begin playing the "real game"? Levelling slowly may make a character feel more valuable and discourage deleting to some, but for others we're told its such a turn-off that discourages playing completely. What I often think to myself is actually why not just have the levelling soloable and let people decide if they want help, instead of forcing them to reach out for assistance (not everybody wants the co-op multiplayer experience). There also didn't have to be a group exp multiplier, it could have just been a fixed experience per kill and split between all the available groupmates, instead. It seems like the bonus is what really encourages people to play mindlessly, and maybe also to OOC.. and it seems lazy.. good group composition and good play would then be what make groups better than soloing and that would build strong relationships and cliques. But that would probably ruin the game for some. It seems like worthy of discussing more but I don't think we should just react on this one. I'd say surges and cake is just magnifying the real underlying flaw myself though, but it also makes it last less time. then you hit 50 and you need group comp to do the end game for equipment (which is working well)
I do remember people used good group comps (especially the ones that minimized downtime) before surge but that wasn't really necessary then either, the game has always had the option of face rolling on dark timbers or something with a big vuln like that, and that sort of conscientious play becomes pointless once those mobs are found out. I liked it more when people cared about efficiency, but is it right to bring back in 2017?_________________AR is on TwitterFacebook